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Looks like our Murano is going to be written off (will find out in a few days), and once they've decided that I guess we only get 3 days of the car rental to decide and buy a replacement (and negotiate if at all possible in that short a span I guess).

I figure we'll probably get $8-10k for it, looking at various sites as to what that vehicle is selling for. We can kick in a bit more, but this comes at the exact wrong time so we can't do what we'd planned and use proceeds from the Murano towards financing something near-new.

So I think we'll set a limit of $15k.

It's going to be a commuter car primarily, so something small and efficient is good. I'd like a hatchback for the added flexibility, but doesn't have to be one. Most of since at that price we're probably going to be getting something off warranty or nearly so, so reliability and cheap to repair/maintain is probably high on our list; both our cars have cost us a LOT to repair the past few years.

Good resale might also be a plus as we might turn around and sell this in 6 months.

Suggestions?

My random to-look-at-list:
My wife likes the Mazda 3, and the Hyundai Elantra.
A Mini would be cool but I think that would violate the inexpensive to repair criteria since it's BMW, but I am willing to be corrected.
MB B200's are popping up in that price range, though 2006 range.
Toyota Matrix.
Suzuki SX4, no idea about Suzuki.
Fiat 500 lol, no idea about them either.
Also not averse to something a bit bigger like a Volvo or even a small SUV.